Jury finds Rohnert Park man guilty of 12-year-old girl's kidnapping

February 15, 2013, 2:48PM

02/15/2013

Jurors deliberated less than 10 minutes before convicting a Rohnert Park man of trying to abduct a 12-year-old girl who was selling pine cones door-to-door.

Timothy James Allbritton, 49, faces up to 11 years in prison for the Aug. 9 incident at his Enterprise Drive apartment.

The girl testified she knocked on Allbritton's door, hoping to sell him pine cones decorated with paint and glitter. She sold several to Allbritton days earlier and he had given her brushes and paint to work on more.

When he opened the door, she testified that he grabbed her, pulling her about eight feet into the apartment toward a bedroom. She ran out when he set her down for a moment, she said.

"The child screamed from the moment he put his hands on her," according to a statement from the District Attorney's Office.

She wedged her foot in the door frame to try to prevent Allbritton from pulling her into the apartment, but the the 6-foot tall, 287-pound man overcame her strength, prosecutors said.

When she got away, the girl ran straight home and told her parents. She was uninjured.

Allbritton initially told police he was only trying to prop the girl up because she fainted. Officers said he told them, "I have that effect on women," prosecutor Rosanne Darling said.

Upon further questioning, he described the girl as a "10" and said he wanted to hug and kiss her inside his apartment, police testified.

Jurors deliberated less than 10 minutes before convicting a Rohnert Park man of trying to abduct a 12-year-old girl who was selling pine cones door-to-door.

Timothy James Allbritton, 49, faces up to 11 years in prison for the Aug. 9 incident at his Enterprise Drive apartment.

The girl testified she knocked on Allbritton's door, hoping to sell him pine cones decorated with paint and glitter. She sold several to Allbritton days earlier and he had given her brushes and paint to work on more.

When he opened the door, she testified that he grabbed her, pulling her about eight feet into the apartment toward a bedroom. She ran out when he set her down for a moment, she said.

"The child screamed from the moment he put his hands on her," according to a statement from the District Attorney's Office.

She wedged her foot in the door frame to try to prevent Allbritton from pulling her into the apartment, but the the 6-foot tall, 287-pound man overcame her strength, prosecutors said.

When she got away, the girl ran straight home and told her parents. She was uninjured.

Allbritton initially told police he was only trying to prop the girl up because she fainted. Officers said he told them, "I have that effect on women," prosecutor Rosanne Darling said.

Upon further questioning, he described the girl as a "10" and said he wanted to hug and kiss her inside his apartment, police testified.

Allbritton didn't take the witness stand.

Jurors began deliberations Thursday afternoon after less than a day of testimony. They reached a verdict within minutes, finding Allbritton guilty of kidnapping with an enhancement for the girl's age.

His sentencing is March 26 before Judge Gary Medvigy.

Allbritton's lawyer, Jeff Mitchell, said his client was on disability for mental illness. He argued Allbritton didn't intend to harm the girl.